Hey gang, Valkor here. It's a fresh new year and how can I start it off without taking a look at “the sponge”? The gang over at Paramount Home knows this and that’s why they’ve sent over their latest DVD compilation that doesn’t put SpongeBob at the forefront. Get ready as we dive into “SpongeBob and Friends – Patrick Squarepants” DVD. I think it’s the start of a great series, but they need to fix just one thing…
Patrick Star, SpongeBob’s best bud and next door neighbor takes the center stage with this 14 episode DVD set that revolves strictly around him, showcasing some of his… ahem, “proudest” moments. There are no extra features on this single disc set and I’m OK with that, because that means they’ve squeezed as many eps as possible from the usual 7 episode set. I’m almost OK with this set, but I’ll save why I'm not completely satisfied with it for later, right now let’s dive into some choice episodes.
Big Sister Sam – Patrick’s sister stops by for visit (who knew??) and along with her visit she brings a lot of anger issues. And believe me you don’t wanna make her angry.
Big Pink Loser – SpongeBob gets all the accolades and Patrick doesn’t get any. And he wants to finally change that - by doing everything that SpongeBob does. Will that finally help him get an award or will he be the biggest annoyance ever?
Karate Star – Whilst training in the art of karate, Patrick learns that he has “the perfect slice” or the perfect karate chop. But soon his chop gets out of control and he’s slicing everything sight!
The Secret Box (Val favorite) – Patrick has a box that contains a very special secret that only he can look at. SpongeBob is desperate to know what’s inside the box, but in doing so he risk losing his best friendship.
I hope there are more DVD sets like this down the pike; I’d love to see a Sandy, Squidward or even a Mr. Krab Squarepants set in the near future. There’s just one thing that must be done to make the future sets right and I’ll tell you about it in the TOV Breakdown.
The Good:
Since I’ve started reviewing SpongeBob DVDs on the site, I’ve become hooked on the series as a whole; not just what I have to watch to review but I’ll catch an episode or two while I’m flipping through channels and I’ll stop to watch even if it’s an ep I’ve already seen, because the series is just that good. This compilation set is outrageously funny with Patrick Star ranking high as one of my favorite sidekick/buddy characters. And the huge part of what makes him awesome is the voice work done by Bill Fagerbakke. Playing Patrick isn’t a far stretch from his character Bull from “Coach”, so it must have been easy to carry over that goofy, over the top, lovable charm into this new animated personality. A big plus to the 14 eps you get on a single disc, which is double of what’s normally put out for this type of compilation. So prepare yourselves for loads of laughs.
The Bad: ,p>I don’t know whose decision it was, but each episode (which runs roughly 6 plus minutes long) contains the opening song and end credits. What’s even worse is that you can’t even skip it! If you do, you you’ll jump to the next vid starting with the opening song. Now that’s just wrong! By the third episode I was getting crazy annoyed!
The Ugly:
My brain after having sat through those 14 episodes with opening song and end credits that I can't skip. What’s wrong with having one opening song and a larger end credits containing everyone who did what for each episode? The other DVDs have this! Why not this one?
SpongeBob and Friends “Patrick Squarepants” gets a release on January 14th and it’s a whole lotta fun, especially if you enjoy the character. If you don’t mind listening to the opening theme over and over then you’re in for some huge laughs. And out of TOV 5 stars, I give this compilation a 3.5.